Bees have stopped play at tennis tournaments, ladybirds have brought a halt to Test cricket. Now squirrels have got in on the action at a second-tier English football match.
Hull City 2 Bristol City 3 is likely to linger in the memory for everyone who attended at the MKM Stadium.
A topsy-turvy game between two teams chasing a place in the Premier League. And it was stopped by a squirrel. Twice.
There were 20,848 fans inside Hull’s home stadium, in Humberside on England’s east coast, and a furry friend who wanted a piece of the action.
Emil Riis had just put Gerhard Struber’s visitors 3-1 up before the match was stopped in the 54th minute when the squirrel first appeared — and sprinted across the pitch.
There was three minutes of comedy chasing and evasive action before play resumed, only for the four-legged fiend to return to wreak more havoc than the home attack had previously shown.
It entered the Bristol City goal, twice, to loud cheers from supporters…
It also made its way up an advertising hoarding…
A member of the Hull groundstaff was tasked with catching it so that the game could continue….
He may have wished he had not been asked as the squirrel proved more than elusive — and the fans showed their sense of humour superbly as “you’re getting mauled by the squirrel” rung out through the stadium.
“You’re getting mauled by the squirrel” 😂🐿️ #EFL | #SkyBetChampipnship pic.twitter.com/6gLL1niwiq
— Sky Bet Championship (@SkyBetChamp) February 7, 2026
Even the visitors social media team had fun at his expense on their ‘X’ account.
The squirrel is now running away from the groundsman who is chasing it.
— Bristol City FC (@BristolCity) February 7, 2026
Play finally resumed after 64 minutes and clearly had an impact — Radek Vitek’s net breached by a ball, not an amimal, again when Kieran Dowell scored in the 78th minute to set up a frantic finish.
The rodent’s routine did however add to the angst for Bristol City because they had to see out 10 minutes added time because of all the stoppages.
“We enjoyed the squirrel a little bit, especially when they could catch it. It was a lovely animal and I like animals — this was really funny to see how they tried to catch it,” Bristol City head coach Struber told BBC Radio Bristol after the game.
“It also interrupted the game in some momentum, but how we dealt with that was also really good to see from my boys.”
Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev had their Indian Wells quarter-final stopped by a bee invasion in March 2024 before ladybirds arrived at Lord’s, the home of cricket, in the summer of 2025.
Ben Stokes was batting against India when play was stopped by the insects.
But none had the same impact as the squirrel. The Bristol City ‘X’ fans even voted it their pick of the match.
A generational talent. 🐿️
You’ve voted the Squirrel as today’s @thatchers_cider Pick of the Match! 🍎 pic.twitter.com/HQS5MjqB5M
— Bristol City FC (@BristolCity) February 7, 2026
How the squirrel got into Hull’s home remains a mystery. But, frankly, who cares?